WWE.Com has an article up about John Cena and his retro jersey collection, and at the end Cena makes a rather interesting comment :

The overwhelming popularity of throwback jerseys has given Cena an idea: retro WWE merchandise.

“This company is a historic, unbelievable company,” he said. “We put 93,000 people in the Pontiac Silverdome (for WrestleMania III).”

Cena also points out that the Kid Rock “Lonely Road of Faith” video that is played for fans at WWE events -- which features legendary Superstars from the past -- is extremely popular with crowds.

WWE fans, like sports fans in general, seem to really cling to their history, Cena said, adding, “Why not let them take it home with them?”

Now, I still have some of those old WWF magazines (the ones with those mini merchandise catalogs that featured the old t shirts and Hulk teddy bears and whatnot), and from what I remember - the selection wasn't all that appealing ... First, the shirts themselves looked pretty cheap, and the designs just weren't very inspiring (I particularly remember the design on Sgt. Slaughter's shirt looking more like a caricature of Curly from the Three Stooges).

Still, it would be kind of neat (in a geeky way) to have some "upgraded" jerseys/clothing made available with some of the former wrestlers/gimmicks on it ... Hell, Vince is signing all of the old wrestlers to contracts anyway, why not just go all the way with the "retro" binge and make the merchandise available as well?

Of course, it does bring up one question ... Could they get away with printing the old gold blocky "WWF" logo on the merchandise, or would the panda people get on their case again?

I would SO buy a Ricky Steamboat jersey. I think its a pretty good idea.

WIENER OF THE DAY! July 6, 2002!

Fear can sometimes be a useful emotion. For instance, let's say you're an astronaut on the moon and you fear that your partner has been turned into Dracula. The next time he goes out for the moon pieces, wham!, you just slam the door behind him and blast off. He might call you on the radio and say he's not Dracula, but you just say, "Think again, bat man."

Depends on how it was done. Would it be exact replicas of the old merchandise, or updated stuff with older superstars images? Maybe release a line of classic action figures? How much would it rock to get a Jakks figure of Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage?? Yeah, I think that idea would be a success.

Not that I would ever wear it anywhere, but I think it would be pretty cool to be able to get the old school Randy Savage shirt- the purple one with the goggles on it with a picture of Savage in the reflection. Never owned any wrestling shirt, but if I did that would be it.

"The Universe is shaped exactly like the Earth. You go straight long enough you end up where you were."

"next to of course god america ilove you land of the pilgrims' and so forth ohsay can you see by the dawn's early mycountry tis of centuries come and goand are no more what of it we should worryin every language even deafanddumbthy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorryby jingo by gee by gosh by gumwhy talk of beauty what could be more beaut-iful than these heroic happy deadwho rushed like lions to the roaring slaughterthey did not stop to think they died insteadthen shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

I was part of a WWF focus group about six months before WM X8, and this very topic came up. The people there were more or less unanimous in saying that they wouldn't buy or wear new WWF shirts, but that they would buy select merchandise featuring retro guys. The merchandising guy who was heading the discussion said that they were getting essentially the same response from all the campus groups he spoke to. I think this is the same as a lot of WWE ideas...if done right it could be a big success, but if they're not careful with how they handle it and go overboard, it will end up looking stupid.

For the record, I'd be the first one in line to buy one of those Demolition spiky masks.

They showed us the first prototype for the WM X8 gear, and I kid you not it was the stupidest stuff I'd ever seen. The X8 logo was going to be the usual WM logo combined with the SkyDome logo and a bunch of maple leafs. Their initial plan for the t-shirts and jersey were white, with their combo WM X8 logo all over it. I can only assume that monstrosity kept getting similar respones since they wound up just lumping together remakes of the X7 merchandise. Anyway, it was the most absurd looking thing I'd ever seen, and thankfully it never made it to a merchandise rack.

Anyway, after we shouted that thing down so resoundingly, the guy asked around about what kind of WWF merchandise we would actually wear (why they didn't establish this first I don't know, but anyway...). The consensus was that we weren't very likely to buy wrestling shirts as stuff to wear day to day, it'd be more like stuff to buy as souvenirs.

That didn't go over well at all.

That was when we got into retro stuff like I said. Again, no one was looking for a Jake The Snake shirt to wear around campus (I think Jake was the example, at least) but that it'd be cool to find stuff like was sold when we were kids.

The rest of it was just general stuff...how often do you watch the shows, do you make a point of watching, what's the attitude towards wrestling on campus, do you buy the PPVs, etc.

I really got the impression that they were more looking for people to tell them how great everything about the company is more than anything else. Any criticism or suggestions on what would make different aspects of the company more attractive to consumers prompted a quick change of subject.

Originally posted by EradicatorNot that I would ever wear it anywhere, but I think it would be pretty cool to be able to get the old school Randy Savage shirt- the purple one with the goggles on it with a picture of Savage in the reflection. Never owned any wrestling shirt, but if I did that would be it.

I remember seeing a porno with Ron Jeremy sporting that same old school Savage shirt.

I'd like warm-up/gym pants in the scheme of the Big John Stud in-ring tights. And jams/swim trunks in purple with white stars across them in the tone of the old Macho Man trunks. I would buy those kinds of things, but alot of the WWE shirts are lame and or kiddy style.

Think they'd recycle WCW merch? I know it isn't that old, but I NEED the ORIGINAL Eddie Guerrero "Eddie Guerrero Is My Favorite Wrestler/Cheat to Win" shirt. The WWE version's just... meh. "Cheat 2 Win" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Today's Out-Of-Context Quote, Courtesy ofhardygrrl:

"...between the grime layer and the Seventies game show host hair, I'd rather rim Undertaker after a White Castle/Schlitz bender."

If you'll remember, on 4/18/02 I (and several other people) wrote a list of predictions for the following two years. “What will the WWF be like in two years?” So far, one of my predictions has come true, while a second one is looking very favorable.